77 Esprit

Discussion in 'Members Rides' started by buicksWILD, Apr 25, 2021.

  1. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

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    Introducing my newest money pit, 1977 Pontiac Firebird Esprit. Its actually related to my 65 Lesabre. It came with a 3.8L that we all know is famously designed after the Buick 4.9 300 that powers my Lesabre. Drove 8hrs to Colorado Springs to pick it up.
     
    techg8, 6769RIV, mrolds69 and 2 others like this.
  2. Aaron65

    Aaron65 Well-Known Member

    I love it! Here's my '74 Esprit...great cars!
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    6769RIV, mrolds69 and buicksWILD like this.
  3. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

    Nice! What engine and tranny combo does yours have?
     
  4. Aaron65

    Aaron65 Well-Known Member

    It's just a Pontiac 350 2-barrel and Turbo 350 with factory dual exhaust and 3.08 gear.
     
    buicksWILD likes this.
  5. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

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    My wallet hurts already lmao.
     
  6. Aaron65

    Aaron65 Well-Known Member

    What are your plans for it?
     
  7. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

    For now fixing the odds and ends and making it drivable. I'm not 100% on the direction its gonna go.
     
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  8. 71GS455

    71GS455 Best Package Wins!

    Was thinking it was going to be a Lotus, for some reason.
     
    Dano likes this.
  9. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    What year 3.8 does it have? A Buick 350 would bolt right in!
     
  10. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

    I'm assuming the stock one. Dosen't look like it has been messed with.
     
  11. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

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    Gave them a nice scrub down. Turns out I have mismatched wheels. The gray wheel on the left is 15x8 and the right wheels are 15x7. He gave me 2 spare gray wheels as well so im going to mount the 15x8 in the rear for now.
     
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  12. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

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    Gave the interior a good scrub down.

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    Next was the body!

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    A few hours and towels later.

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  13. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

    The color is called Bahia Green, the red is surface rust I think. I didn't mess with that at all.
     
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  14. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

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    Look what ups just dropped off!
     
  15. pbr400

    pbr400 68GS400

    That car is a great find! It’s a shame how many were used up and thrown away, then crushed because we all took them for granted. (I used to have two ‘79s and remember roaming seeing running cars for 1500 and junkyards full of them for parts. I recently flipped one that was rougher than yours; after being out of the marjet for a while it was an eye opener how it’s changed. Pic of it below). It may not matter for your plans, but those end caps are for ‘79-81. ‘77 were hard plastic and didn’t have the square forward lower corners.
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    Attached Files:

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  16. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the tip!
     
  17. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

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    Here we go 15x6 for the front & 15x7 for the rear.

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    Cleaned up and inspected the rear shoes. They were actually in great shape so I sanded them down a bit to break the glaze.
     
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  18. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

    Disassemble the front brakes to clean & inspect.

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    The bearings showed some minor pitting so I'm replacing those and the races.
     
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  19. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

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    Decided to replace the wheel cylinders for peace of mind. Cleaned everything up and back together it went.
     
    6769RIV likes this.
  20. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    Have you considered swapping in a Buick 350? It’s a bolt in swap, even the engine mounts will work.
     
    6769RIV likes this.

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